The secret that makes this no-till farmer a success

No-till crop cultivation is hardly a novel movement, yet learning curves are still steep as farmers navigate the intricacies of what makes healthy soil. Lindi Botha speaks to Hendrik Odendaal about how a change in his compost regime is making all the difference.

- Lindi Botha

Soil so rich in nutrients that it feeds a crop without the need for additional inputs is any farmer’s dream. The state of South Africa’s soils after years of cultivation and chemicals has, however, rendered farms unable to produce anything without significant help from external, artificial sources.

No-till cultivation seeks to build soil health by increasing organic matter, boosting moisture retention and establishing enough earthworms to work the soil back to health. But as Hendrik Odendaal, a diversified crop and livestock farmer in Standerton, Mpumalanga, found, no-till can be problematic if the whole soil biome is not considered.

“The main driver for no-till is to build up carbon in the soil, thereby reducing erosion and input costs,” says Odendaal.

“Initially, the thinking was that by keeping crop residue on the land, and working it into the soil, the organic matter would increase. But this is not entirely the case. You can actually go backwards, and have more compaction and lower organic content, if you don’t manage the soil correctly.”

Odendaal converted the family farm’s crop division to no-till in 2007. He added significant amounts of compost made on the farm, planted cover crops and allowed cattle to graze the crop residue. But he was not seeing the results he wanted.

The organic content in the soil had increased, but he still required the same amount of fertiliser as before switching to no-till. Soya bean stands in particular fields were irregular, and pest and disease pressure remained unchanged, necessitating the standard application of crop protection chemicals.